Statesmen upend Bulldogs, 13-6, Saturday in New York

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Despite a career-high 18 saves from junior goalie James Werner (New Rochelle, N.Y.), the Bryant University men's lacrosse team saw its three-game winning streak snapped at the hands of a potent Hobart offense, 13-6, Saturday in Geneva, N.Y.

Werner faced a season-high 53 shots from the Statesmen (6-6, 3-1 Northeast Conference), while the Bulldogs (7-6, 3-2) mustered just 28 total shots and put only 17 of them on target.

"The better team on the field won today," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "Hobart gets all the credit – they outplayed us in every phase of the game. Congrats to the Statesmen on the win today.

"I thought James was outstanding in the goal," he added, "and I thought their goalie played very well too, especially in the first half. It was probably Werner's best week of practice, and he played like that today."

Senior Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) led the way for the Bulldogs with six shots, scoring off three of them for his third hat trick of the season. Rookie attack Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) netted a pair late in Saturday's contest, while junior attack Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) registered Bryant's only other tally. Hobart kept leading scorer Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) off the board in the outing, just the second blanking of his 2017 season.

"We were so impatient on offense today, especially in the first three quarters," said Pressler. "We didn't play with any sense of urgency. They dominated us on that end for four quarters, and that had a lot to do with them and a lot to do with us."

Justin Scott picked up his own hat trick for the Statesmen in the victory, leading eight different Hobart scorers. Sean Donnelly, Frank Brown and Eric Holden all recorded a pair, while goalie Jackson Brown made 11 stops.

But one of the game's top storylines was the play of Hobart faceoff specialist J Andrew Spallanzani, who went 13-for-20 with five ground balls on the day and held Bryant junior Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) to just a 5-for-15 mark. Massa entered the game with a .731 winning percentage in NEC play.

"Kenny's been on a seven-game run where he has been dominant, and No. 15 for Hobart certainly had his number today," said Pressler. "Hobart won that battle, so they had the ball that much more on offense, and that certainly impacted the score."

After a scoreless first quarter, Frank Brown was credited with a fluky goal to open the scoring, when a pass tipped off his stick and redirected into the goal for a 1-0 Hobart lead.

The hosts would extend that advantage to 3-0 over the next seven minutes with scores from Holden and Scott before Ziegler curled around the right goal post to put the visitors on the board 94 ticks before the halftime break.

But the Bulldogs were limited to just eight shots through the opening 30 minutes and won just 2-of-7 faceoffs in the half, relying mostly on Werner's eight saves to limit the Black and Gold deficit to just 3-1.

Hobart opened the third with a man-up score from Scott just over two minutes in, and only a goal by Sharpe interrupted four Statesmen tallies in the first half of the stanza. Sharpe got back on the board with 5:37 to play to cut the score to 7-3, but it would take Donnelly just 27 seconds to respond for the home side.

Tanner John got on the board off an assist from Chris Aslanian 30 second later for the 9-3 advantage.

Buonaiuto would respond for the Bulldogs 11 ticks later off a feed from junior middie Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.), and the redshirt-freshman would repeat four minutes into the fourth quarter to pull within four, 9-5.

And while Sharpe would complete his hat trick with 5:57 remaining in regulation, Hobart would score four of the final five goals – including three in the final 3:13 – to cement the 13-6 final.

Hobart not only outshot the Bulldogs but also won the margin in ground balls, 33-25. Bryant turned the ball over 17 times and finished the day with just six caused turnovers. Hobart registered 10 caused turnovers on the afternoon. All four penalties resulted in goals for the man-up side, with Hobart going 3-for-3.

The Bulldogs are now 0-3 against the Statesmen in Geneva, continuing the series trend that has kept the home side perfect throughout. Bryant will return home for the remainder of the regular season, next hosting Robert Morris Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m. for 2017 Senior Day.